We were in luck, approaching St.Jude's church from the chippy c20 Redwing were feeding on the football fields.
A nice sight to see on the moor.
A Mistle Thrush was feeding higher up also.
There could well have been more than 20 Redwing.
They were very skittish, retreating to the trees at frequent intervals.
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Leeshaw Reservoir - Oxenhope13:30 - 14:15
A cold, windy place this!! (A lot like Bradshaw).
Frequent, heavy cold showers and lots of water on the reservoir road.
The farmer looks to have done a good job with the drains higher up though.
The reservoir is full to the brim and most of the Gulls were very distant over to the NW.
I struggle with large Gull I.D's, especially at this distance, but there were Lesser Black Backed Gulls here today!
The usual small Gulls were present, I didn't eyeball any Kittiwakes as far as I am aware.
3 Goosanders, out on the water, soon disappeared under the banking out of the wind.
A couple of Mallard and 2 Cormorant were here also and that was about it.
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I went home from Oxenhope, where a real gem of a wall has been built,via the Fly Flats road.The road, part stream, has suffered with large craters now appearing in it.
Fly Flats reservoir was bereft of birds, as far as I could tell from my distant vantage point on the road.
The high winds and rain were testing a Kestrel's abilities to hover and hunt.
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Sit down because this is a real belly buster joke.
Mr Smith went to see the doctor.
He was very worried because he had found a piece of a green leafy stuff sticking out of his bottom.
The doctor examined him and looked very serious.
Mr Smith said "Give me the worst about this green leaf thing, Doc".
I don't want to worry you unnecessarily.
I think that this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Lesser Black-backed Gull top?
This bird looked too large for Common Gull
probably a Herring Gull
An interesting Redwing, that dark one John compared with the other bird. Perhaps an Icelandic one.
ReplyDeleteHerring Gull looks smart.
Possibly Icelandic - the cold won't bother it if it is!
ReplyDeleteBritain's Birds( Hume, Still, Swash, Harrop & Tipping) has an illustration of a Icelandic bird.
"Broad streaks nearly coalesce on underside" is the definition.
I've no other books showing an Icelandic bird.
Interesting stuff.
John